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A conservative education foundation filed an amicus brief on Thursday in support of a former Brownsburg teacher who was forced to quit his job at a public school after he chose not to use preferred pronouns when identifying transgender students.
The Terre Haute-based Bopp Law Firm filed the brief on behalf of the Young America’s Foundation in support of John Kluge.
“The school district’s attempt to force Mr. Kluge to violate his Christian beliefs is a blatant attack on religious liberty and the First Amendment,” said James Bopp, Jr., lead counsel on YAF’s brief. “We cannot allow activist administrators to bully faithful teachers out of our classrooms simply for living out their religious beliefs.”
The case has moved to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. The Young America’s Foundation has asked the appellate court to rule in favor of Kluge.
“A teacher should not be forced to sacrifice his faith at the whim of a leftist employer, and public schools must be held accountable to this basic constitutional principle,” said Madison Hahn, staff attorney for YAF. “YAF is proud to stand beside Mr. Kluge in his effort to practice his faith in the workplace.”
In 2017, teachers in the Brownsburg Community School Corporation were instructed to begin using transgender students’ preferred names.
After Kluge communicated with the superintendent that the requirement went against his religious beliefs, the superintendent told Kluge he could either use their preferred names, say he was forced to resign from his position, or be terminated without pay.
In response, Kluge requested an accommodation for his religious beliefs where he could address all students by their last names. The superintendent approved of the accommodation.
Later that year, Kluge’s principal informed him that his accommodation created tension, and he should resign.
A couple months later, human resources told Kluge his accommodation was being withdrawn, as students were offended by his use of last names. Kluge had not told his students why he referred to them by their last names, according to the lawsuit.
He resigned at the end of the 2017-2018 school year.
A lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for Southern Indiana in 2019 alleging the corporation violated Title VII, the United States Constitution and the Indiana Constitution.
The Indiana Lawyer reached out to the Brownsburg Community School Corporation for comment, but the school district did not respond before IL’s deadline.
The case is John Kluge v. Brownsburg Community School Corporation, 24-1942.
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